| “ | Chaos is my blood and air. | „ |
| ~ The Trickster |
The Trickster, also known as the God of Traps, is the main antagonist of The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spin-off from the BBC TV series, Doctor Who and the overarching antagonist in the Series 4 episode, Turn Left of the revived series of Doctor Who.
The Trickster was a member of the Pantheon of Discord, a collection of transcendent god-like beings from beyond the confines of the universe that sought to sow chaos across reality. Known as the "God of Traps", he made bargains to alter history and feed on the resulting fallout.
He is a villain most notably in the portion of the Doctor Who universe dealing with Sarah Jane (though the Trickster was mentioned in the official series during the events of "Turn Left", as well as in the Torchwood episode "Immortal Sins", and has once met the Tenth Doctor). He is the leader of a group known as the Trickster's Brigade. He is the archenemy of Sarah Jane Smith.
He is portrayed by Paul Marc Davis.
Biography[]
The Trickster cannot exist for long periods of time in this universe and can't take physical form, often having to employ reflective surfaces in order to "show" itself (though he can also take the form of a faceless specter) - the Trickster is said to be part of a Pantheon of Discord.
At some point, the Trickster saved the life of the Graske Krislok from his spaceship crash, forcing him to become the Trickster's slave.
The Sarah Jane Adventures[]
The Trickster first encountered Sarah Jane Smith when he found satisfaction in the chaos caused a random asteroid strike. Knowing Sarah Jane would prevent this apocalyptic event, the Trickster removed her from the timeline, and had her childhood friend Andrea Yates, who originally died in 1964, live to take her place. As part of his manipulations, he arranged that the aliens that faced Sarah never invade, which also erased her adoptive son Luke.
However, Maria Jackson, who retained her memory of the original timeline due to holding an alien puzzle box, began to remind Andrea of Sarah Jane, and the Trickster sent Krislok to remove her from the timeline. While Sarah was in the void, the Trickser confronted her, and learned about the existence of the Doctor, and vowed to erase him next. While Krislok was successful in dealing with Maria, her father recovered his memories of her, and restored her. The Trickster confronted them and Andrea, and after she realised she had been manipulated, Andrea abandoned her deal with the Trickster, thwarting the Trickster's plan.
Doctor Who[]
The Trickster was to reappear in the fifth series of The Sarah Jane Adventures where he would have been revealed to be the father of Sarah Jane's adoptive daughter Sky, but the episode was never filmed due to the death of Elisabeth Sladen. In the audio short story Farewell, Sarah Jane, offscreen, the Trickster attacked Sarah's funeral via his servants as part of a plan to swap Earth with a copy from the septic dimension, but this was thwarted by Sarah Jane's and the Doctor's friends, who were attending the funeral, within ten minutes. The Trickster himself was shrunk down to the size of a doll, locked in a treasure chest and banished to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for the next thousand years.
The Harbingers of the One Who Waits include the Trickster in a list of gods as prerequisite to the introduction to a supposedly mightier deity, who is revealed to be Sutekh the God of Death.
Personality[]
The Trickster embodies a manipulative and chaotic personality. He's a member of the Pantheon of Discord, banished from the universe, and thrives on creating chaos by making deals to alter history. The Trickster is known for his calm demeanour while orchestrating schemes, but also for his fits of anger when things go wrong.
Victims[]
- Several Unnamed Victims - Erased from existence by The Trickster.
- Sarah Jane Smith: Swapped with Andrea Yates, died in her place on 13 July 1964 and was trapped in Limbo until Andrea rejected the deal and Sarah Jane was restored.
- Andrea Yates: Swapped with Sarah Jane Smith as a teenager and lived out her life until rejecting the deal on her 40th birthday after finding out she was tricked.
- Maria Jackson: Temporally erased by Krislok sending her back to 13 July 1964, was later restored along with Sarah Jane when Andrea rejected the deal.
- Barbara and Eddie Smith: Both were part of his revenge plan against Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane attempted to prevent their death's by disabling their car so they wouldn't leave, however it was near an unstable rift so the Trickster was able to fully manifest and conquer Earth, later Sarah Jane fixed their car and they went to their deaths, which fixed the timeline.
- Krislok: Saved from his ship exploding, this resulted in him being forced to serve the Trickster. He was eventually freed when he helped Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra defeat the Trickster, with Clyde giving Krislok a Verron Puzzle Box which protected him from the Trickster.
- Peter Dalton - Indirectly; resurrected by The Trickster before reliving death.
Trivia[]
- The Trickster was originally believed to have been speaking literally about "embodying multitudes" when the Doctor points put he "looked rather lonely for a Pantheon"; being a collective in singular form.
- Sutekh later identifies him as the God of Traps, meaning it was hyperbole. Since Russel T Davies wrote both episodes, this is likely the definite explanation as to what Trickster is.
- It remains unknown if the Trickster will return to face the Doctor. Ever since the Toymaker got into the universe in 2023, the other gods and monsters have been trailing in like ants to a picnic.
